The death toll from a militant hijacking of a train in Pakistan's southwestern mountains has risen to 31 soldiers, staff and civilians, the military said on Friday as it accused India and Afghanistan of backing the insurgents.

Pakistan’s prime minister has commended the country’s armed forces for successfully rescuing 339 passengers after a deadly train hijacking by insurgents in the southwest

A group of militants seized a Peshawar-bound train, igniting a 36-hour hostage crisis, but this attack is part of a decades-long insurgency rooted in the Baloch separatist groups' violent struggle for an independent state.

The militants, Baloch ethnic fighters, said they would kill dozens of seized security personnel if the Pakistani government did not agree to a prisoner exchange.

Terrorists in explosive vests have reportedly threatened Pakistan train passengers' lives if officials refuse to release imprisoned militants.

The BLA said they gave the Pakistan Army 48 hours to exchange prisoners of war, but since they did not heed their warning, they killed the hostages

During a media visit to the site, Brigadier Umar Altaf informed reporters that the army used "precision targeting" to end the siege. The hijacked train, found in a remote mountain pass in Balochistan,